The Northwest depository at 14400 Sommermeyer Street serves residents on that side of Houston and, like the other five city drop-off centres, charges nothing at the gate.

The refusal list is longer than the accepted one, so read it before loading. Televisions are not taken here at all — they belong at an Environmental Service Center. Neither are truck tyres, nor industrial or tractor-trailer tyres. Rocks, dirt and bricks are out. So are pallets, dead animals, hot ashes, liquids of any kind, acid waste, explosives, petrol and other flammables, paint, pesticides, fertilisers, and anything that has already been burned. Ordinary household rubbish and food waste go in your kerbside cart, not here.

One genuine oddity worth flagging: the city's own page prints concrete twice, once among the bulk items it accepts and once among the items it refuses. The two entries contradict each other. If your load is rubble, call 311 first rather than driving out on a guess.

Opening times are Tuesday to Saturday, from nine until six, with the gates closed Monday and Sunday. Allow half an hour before closing to unload.

Residents may come four times in a month. Bulk and tree waste require a Texas ID together with a matching Houston utility bill or lease; a recycling-only run needs just the ID.

On site you unload the vehicle yourself, within twenty minutes. Children under sixteen stay inside the car, pets stay in the car too, and no scavenging is permitted.